Different
by thestrals-on-parade
Summary: A little story that takes place toward the beginning of Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts. Everything's different, and she's struggling, but maybe a talk with Ron could make it better. Also shows friendships between Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry.


**Author's Note: So, second fan fiction. I know someone asked for more Ron/Hermione relationship stories, so here's one. Just a little idea that came to me. Any comments are welcomed and extremely helpful. I really hope you like it, and of course, all characters and the Harry Potter world belong to the amazing JK Rowling.**

Different

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole swiftly, ignoring the Fat Lady, who had been trying to spread whatever the latest gossip was to her. In her current sour state, Hermione almost wished that the Fat Lady had been one of the things lost in the Battle of Hogwarts; she had no time for the absurdities that that painting tried to bring into her life. Once in the common room, Hermione wanted out. The laughter and smiles that everyone had in there would have usually made her happy, but not that day.

She looked over at the table that she had done homework at so many times. There was a group of third years sitting there playing Exploding Snap, and the sight made her sick to her stomach. She spun on the spot and headed for the staircase leading up to the girls' dormitories.

She lay down on her bed, leaning against her pillows, and snatched the book off of her nightstand. Flipping through the pages with enough force to almost tear them out, she found where she had stopped reading the night before and picked it up again. Or at least, she tried to. The problem was, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't absorb anything that she read.

Nothing had even gone particularly bad that day. Sure, she had answered something wrong in Charms, since she couldn't seem to focus, and she had seen Malfoy in the great hall, and he'd made some comment while looking at her that the other Slytherins had all laughed at. Also, the Head Girl had made some snarky comment or other to her, which was ridiculous considering Hermione had been offered the job of being Head Girl, but had turned it down so a true seventh year student could have it. But these things would not have normally made her this upset. Seeing those third years at the table in the common room hadn't improved anything either. It just kept on reminding her of what was missing.

She didn't want to admit how much she missed them, but she had to admit it to herself now. She would have given anything for a sarcastic comment from Harry or, especially, a silly joke from Ron, probably including some sort of language that she would scold him for. Over the past seven years, Ron and Harry had become parts of her, and now she was separated from them except for Hogsmeade weekends and holidays.

"Tough day?"

Hermione had not even noticed Ginny come into their room, but when looked up she saw the younger girl standing by the door, her arms crossed.

Hermione closed her book, "I suppose."

Ginny went over and sat on her own four-poster, crossing her legs and letting her fiery hair fall over one shoulder, "I miss them too."

"How'd you know?" Hermione asked with a sigh.

Ginny laughed, "Really? You used to go for weeks here with the only thing making you upset being Ron, now you're moody all the time, and really only one thing is different from back then. It's pretty simple to make the connection, even if I'm not you."

Hermione pursed her lips and thought about that for a moment. She didn't think that she had been moody lately, but at the same time she knew that she hadn't exactly been cheerful either. "It's just so different." She finally concluded.

"I know what it's like," Ginny said after a moment. "When Ron left for his first year here, I didn't know what to do with myself. It was just Mum and I at home all the time."

"How did you handle it?" Hermione asked.

"I just got used to it." Ginny responded simply, "It'll always feel different, but pretty soon different will be normal." She paused in thought for a moment before saying, "Missing them, though, that'll never get better."

Hermione sighed. "Not exactly what I had been hoping to hear."

Ginny shrugged, "It's true though."

Just then there was a tapping noise and the girls looked over to the window nearest to Hermione's bed. Outside Pigwidgeon was hitting his beak on the glass relentlessly.

"Apparently you're not the only one who's had a bad day." Ginny said.

She was right of course. Usually Ron and Harry only sent owls in the morning, like what was normal. But there Pig was, waiting outside none too patiently.

Hermione practically leaped off of her bed and went to the window. Once he was let in, the little owl swooped about the room, hooting excitedly.

"Would you get over here?" Hermione called out to him, but Pigwidgeon just kept flying. Annoyed Hermione took her wand out of her pocket and called out, "_Accio__ Pigwidgeon!_"

The owl was tugged out of its flying route and into Hermione's awaiting arms. Ginny quickly untied the little scroll that was attached to Pig's leg and Hermione let him go. He quickly started to zoom about again.

Ginny handed the scroll to Hermione before saying, "Think you can manage him by yourself?"

Hermione glanced up at Pigwidgeon, and smiled. "Yes, I suppose so."

Ginny left and Hermione went back to her bed and sat down. She slit the scroll open and unrolled it, revealing Ron's slightly messy scrawl.

_Hermione,_

_Sorry__ I__ didn__'__t __owl__ you __earlier,__ but__ I__ over slept__ and__ had__ to__ get__ to __the__ shop __or__ George__ would__ have __killed__ me.__ I__ heard __from__ Ginny__ that__ Hogwarts__ hasn__'__t__ exactly__ been__ great__ for__ you__ yet. __Not__ exactly__ sure__ what __that__ means__ but__ it__'__s__ what__ she__ wrote __(if__ it__'__s __because__ Malfoy__ had__ the__ nerve__ to__ go__ back __then __tell__ me__ and__ I__'__ll__ be __there__ in__ a__ minute__ to_

_curse his sorry arse) To be honest, working at the shop hasn't been all that I thought it would be either. The kids that come in here are brats, you should see them. Sometimes I actually wish I'd gone back to school, especially when I think about how that'd mean that we could be together. I miss you. I really, _really_, miss you. So I was thinking, remember back in fifth year when we talked to Sirius? Well, we could do that again, couldn't we? I mean, with my head in the fireplace this time obviously. So, what do you think? __One o'clock__ tonight? I know that you have classes tomorrow morning and all and I have work, but I'd really like to see you. Send your response back with Pig._

_I love you, Ron_

_P.S. Harry's driving me mad with all of his stories about Auror training. Could you get him to write to you about some of them so he won't tell me about _everything_?_

Hermione laughed to herself. She reread the letter a few times. Of course she and Ron had been writing to each other, every other day most of the time, but he hadn't been that honest with her about what was going on back at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes or about how much he missed her. _I love you_, she read over and over again. She still couldn't get enough of those words, or at least, when they came from Ron. She couldn't get enough of the fluttery feeling in her stomach, or her breath catching her throat, or her heart hamming away against her ribs.

She kept on reading until Pigwidgeon hooted at her from where he had finally stopped and perched on one of the posts of her bed. That brought Hermione back to reality and made her remember that Ron was awaiting her response. She quickly got her school bag and pulled out some fresh parchment, a quill, and an inkwell.

_Dear Ron,_

_Don't worry about not writing earlier, you did know. Ginny's right, this time Hogwarts hasn't exactly been excellent, it's just been so different. I miss you so much. Do you remember when Hagrid was gone second year, and it didn't feel the same? It's like that now, without you and Harry. (Malfoy isn't the problem, I would think that after third year you would know that. And honestly Ronald, _language_.) I didn't think that it would feel this different, without you two. I still have Ginny, Luna, Neville, Dean, so many people, but of course, it's not like they were the ones who became my best friends, or, you know, boyfriend. So, while I do have classes and you do have work, I'll meet you down in the common room at __one o'clock__._

_I love you, Hermione_

_P.S. I'm also sending a letter to Harry that will take care of your problem._

Once she had finished writing her letter to Ron, Hermione took out another piece of parchment and began writing again.

_Harry,_

_Don't tell Ron that I'm sending you this, but I think you need to find another person to tell a lot of your stories about Auror training to. If you ask me I think he's a bit jealous because he misses all of the action, but you know that he'd never admit that. So, go ahead and send some to me, and even though I'm sure you already do, send some to Ginny, even send them to Neville or something but just don't tell Ron more than a couple everyday. I'm sorry but I think that it's driving him a bit mad._

_Love from, Hermione_

After addressing the letters Hermione called Pigwidgeon down to her and gave them to him.

"Now," She said, "Pig, take these straight to the Burrow, no detours. Straight to Ron."

The tiny owl took off before Hermione had even finished speaking, and streaked out of the window.

That night, Hermione sneaked down into the common room and curled up on the sofa in front of the fire. She wasn't surprised when Crookshanks joined her, and she scratched him behind the ears causing him to purr merrily. She waited and waited, but nothing could happen. Staring into the flames, she almost fell asleep. But then the shape of the flames started to change slightly, and slowly, Ron's face came into focus.

"Hey." He said cheerfully, a broad grin covering his face.

"Hi." Hermione responded, slipping off of the couch and down onto the rug in order to be face to face with Ron.

Crookshanks followed her and gave a delighted mew towards Ron.

"That menace doing well then?" Ron asked, looking down at the cat with a fake disgusted look.

Hermione laughed, reaching out to pet the cat lovingly, "I think so."

"And you?" Ron asked, much more seriously.

Hermione pressed her mouth into a hard line before looking into his eyes and saying honestly, "I've been worse."

Ron looked downcast at that and told her, "But you've been better, too."

"Yes." She admitted hesitantly.

"So have I, honestly." He said, taking a deep breath.

Hermione just looked at him for a moment, his hair almost blending in with the flames. "I'm not sorry that I came back here, I just wish that I had known what I was getting myself into."

"Is anything wrong beside the…differences?" Ron asked.

"No, not really," Hermione said, "Save for the fact that, because I've been upset, I can't focus as well."

"You," Ron questioned, "Having trouble _focusing_?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, but it's hard to imagine." He said.

"What about you?" She questioned, "George giving you a hard time?"

He shook his head, "No, just…I guess it's like what you've been saying. It's so different. Even George is different. He's getting back to normal and he can pretend that he's fine but there are moments when I look over at him during the day and he doesn't even look like himself."

"And the, what was it you called them, _brats_?" Hermione furthered.

Ron laughed. "Yeah, they're monsters, I'm telling you. They run around, knock things down, don't put anything in the right place once they mess with it…" he got a dark expression before adding, "One vomited the other day too, and not because of a Puking Pastille either."

Hermione tried not to laugh, and the effort in turn caused Ron to. It was surprising to Hermione that, even though he hadn't said anything particularly comforting or nice, Ron was making her feel better just by being there.

"What else has been going on at home?" Hermione asked. "How are your parents? Bill and Fleur? Percy? Charlie? Oh, and what about Teddy? Has Andromeda taken him over lately?"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I just miss you," he said, "And the fact that you can never seem to ask enough questions about everything because then there might be something that you don't know."

Hermione felt a blush creep across her face, but ignored it as Ron started to answer her questions.

"Everyone's fine, it's just life as normal. Andromeda brought Teddy over last week, I think Harry really wants to be a bigger part of his life, though."

"Well of course, after what happened with Sirius he'll want to make sure he's the best godfather he can be, won't he?"

Ron nodded before continuing, "Charlie's just been up in Romania working, although he sent an owl saying that he would be coming down soon. Percy is back to work at the ministry, and moving out too actually."

"Your mum must be delighted by that." Hermione joked.

Ron laughed humorlessly, "You should have seen her when Harry and I suggested that we might do the same thing."

"You might?" Hermione asked.

"Well, something's got to be done with Grimmauld Place, right? We shouldn't just leave Kreacher there alone. Remember what that did to him before? But Mum wouldn't hear of it, something about us being too young. It's ridiculous, we were on the run for a _year_ going after the darkest wizard of all time, and she's worried about us living in a house by ourselves."

"But, of course," Hermione reasoned, "it wasn't just the two of you when we were on the run, now was it?"

Ron blushed, "Well, no, and I guess that without you around we would have…starved and…died."

Hermione laughed, "Yes, probably."

They were quiet for a moment before Ron asked, "Do you still get nightmares?"

Hermione just nodded.

"So do I." He said. "Do you think we could get some of those mirrors, like the one Sirius gave to Harry?"

"Well," Hermione said, "I don't know where we would get them, but I could try to make some."

"I mean, if you want to do—"

"Of course I do." Hermione told him, "That way, we could talk all the time, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah."

They spoke about nothing for a while before Hermione yawned and Ron said, "It's really late, you should go back to bed, shouldn't you?"

Hermione sighed, "I don't want to."

He grinned and asked, "When's the next Hogsmeade weekend?"

"Three weeks." She answered miserably.

"Well, once a week, until then, or a few times a week, whatever you want, we'll do this." Ron said.

Hermione smiled, "Okay."

"I'll owl you tomorrow." He told her.

"I miss you." She responded.

"I miss you too. Night, Hermione."

"Night Ron."

"I love you."

"I love you more."

"Not a chance." He said, before disappearing.

When Hermione went back up to bed, she didn't feel like everything was alright and she didn't feel like everything was back to normal. She did, however, feel alright, and happy, and loved, in a way that only Ron could make her.


End file.
